You can get a mastectomy at 13 in California

“Professional guidelines and clinical practice should recommend patients for chest surgery based on individual need rather than chronologic age.” That is the conclusion the authors of this study have drawn after surgically removing the breasts of 2 13-year old transmales (girls) and 5 14-year olds. Via bioedge.org:

According to the authors, who are based at the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, “All postsurgical participants (68 of 68; 100%) affirmed the statement, ‘It was a good decision to undergo chest reconstruction.’”

Since the girls were overwhelmingly positive about their operation, the authors contend that “Professional guidelines and clinical practice should recommend patients for chest surgery based on individual need rather than chronologic age.”

However, it’s unclear whether the girls (transmales) had enough time for a mature evaluation of their life-changing decision. For nearly all the 68 participants in the survey, only two years had passed. To affirm that there were “very low rates of regret” among minors seems a bit premature. For instance, a study of women who had a single or double mastectomy found that they were quite unrealistic about life after surgery. “Patients generally thought mastectomy would be worse than it was, and they thought reconstruction would be better than it was,” said the lead author.

The other side of the coin is that the “chest dysphoria” of “transmasculine minors” was said to be so severe that it affected their health. They often resorted to chest binding, which is associated with “pain, rib fractures, light-headedness, weakness, skin infection” and other ailments.

This seems to be the justification for the authors’ conclusion that “Youth should be referred for chest surgery based on their individual needs, rather than their age or time spent taking medication. Individualized, patient-centered care plans should be considered the standard of care for all transgender adolescents, and referrals should be made accordingly.”

So the conclusion of these “professionals” is that we should listen to what children think is the best thing for them regardless of their age. If a girl thinks she’s a boy and thinks she should have her breasts remove we should listen to her. Given that you can already lose custody of your child if you refuse hormone treatment it shouldn’t come as a surprise that California is allowing this. California, forever on the bleeding edge of all things twisted and decadent.

It cannot be stated often enough that children need time to mature and grow and figure themselves out before making drastic, permanent, life-altering decisions like this. Teens going through puberty are never sure about what they want or who they are. That’s the entire thrust of what going through puberty is all about, figuring yourself out. To jump to the conclusion that you are really the opposite sex before even going through this process is premature and downright dangerous. And don’t think that this isn’t deliberate. What they teach in schools today, and how they indoctrinate our children, all ties into this increase in transgender surgeries and dysphoria in general.

Primum non nocere, first do no harm, should especially be the primary objective when dealing with teens who have their entire lives ahead of them. Instead of addressing the root cause of why teens may be this confused about their gender, primarily the Marxist indoctrination they’re receiving in schools, these physicians seem to be skipping all of that and jumping to extreme conclusions and recommendations. They’d rather prescribe all sorts of psychotropic medications or perform irreversible surgeries than try milder, less intrusive, methods first. Or, here’s an idea, how about prescribing “watchful waiting” and see if the patient doesn’t have second thoughts a few years down the road?

As the article rightly points out, the follow up for these patients is not nearly long enough out, 2 years or less, for them to see if they’re truly happy or not. I’d be interested to see a follow up 5, 10, 20 years from now, if the patients are still alive. Sadly, transgender regret is a very real thing, and their suicide rates are also much higher than the rest of the population.